Originally posted – Feb 21, 2013
The first thing most people notice when walking into Pokomoke Laundry are the dryers – or, more specifically, the area around and above the dryers.
Instead of the usual painted drywall littered with the typical laundromat signage, this store’s dryers back up to some rather unique corrugated metal walls, which provide an eye-catching décor statement as well as serving a very practical purpose.
“About 20 minutes from us, there was an older laundromat that had a dryer fire,” explained owner Jeff Strong. “The store had paneling on the walls, and as soon as the fire hit that paneling, it went up all the way to the roof.
“When I found out that the place caught on fire, I made a change,” said Strong, who at the time was finishing up the build-out work to get his Pokomoke City, Md., store open. “Around the dryers, we decided to put in a galvanized roofing metal. We installed metal studs, metal ductwork… and, instead of drywall, we put up corrugated metal walls. Now, even if some lint were to catch on fire, nothing is going to spread – everything is metal. It also requires less maintenance, and the local fire marshal really likes it.”
Pokomoke Laundry isn’t Strong’s first foray into the laundromat business. He also owns two stores in neighboring Delaware – a 1,200-square-foot facility that he purchased in 2004, and a 2,000-square-foot location that was bought in 2008.
“The biggest thing I like about coin laundries is the passive income,” Strong said. “Don’t get me wrong – you can’t just count your quarters. But, in the beginning it was something where I could get up a couple of hours before work, go in, work full time, go back to the store after work and maintain it. A laundry was something I felt I could maintain 100 percent by myself. And, with my background of working with motors, pumps, electric and plumbing, it didn’t seem like there was anything I wouldn’t be able to fix, so that would keep my overhead low.”
Strong, who graduated from electronics school in the early ’90s, held a number of manufacturing and production management positions before striking out on his own.
“Everywhere I worked was either downsized or shut down,” he said, with a laugh. “The writing was on the wall. As I was working full time, I was always thinking about what type of business I could get into.”
Strong first looked at opening a car wash, but the high cost of commercial real estate put an end to that idea. Next, he researched storage facilities, and again, the enormous capital outlay proved too costly.
Then, in 2004, he partnered with his father-in-law on an affordable business that would even allow him to keep his full-time job – a small existing laundromat not far from his home along Delaware’s eastern shore.
Four years later, with the recession now raging and his full-time management position on less-than-solid ground, Strong decided to buy his second laundry – and say goodbye to corporate America.
“At that point, I went totally self-employed, with two laundries and also opening up a small maintenance business,” he explained. “We were doing handyman projects, fixing other people’s laundromat equipment and so on.”
In fact, it was Strong’s maintenance business that led to him finding his new Pokomoke City location, which is only about 45 minutes from his Delaware stores.
“We were installing a dryer in this area,” he said. “Wherever I do work, I would drive around and drop off some business cards here and there. And I felt like this area could use a laundry. So, we ran some demographics, found a location and decided that, if we came in with new equipment and a nice clean store, we could provide a good service for the town.”
Pokomoke City boasts a strong African-American and Hispanic presence, according to Strong. And, during the summer months, the Latino population swells, thanks to a large number of seasonal workers who come up from Florida to work in the watermelon and tomato fields of Maryland and Virginia.
Pokomoke Laundry, which is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, is located in a leased 3,000-square-foot storefront within a strip center – also featuring an auto parts store, a Dollar General, a Rent-a-Center, a hair salon and a Chinese restaurant, along with a Walmart location directly across the street.
The laundromat space previously had been part of a grocery store, so Strong had his work cut out for him during the retrofit process.
In addition to adding metal to portions of his interior walls, Strong said he had to “bring everything – the electric, the water, the sewer. They didn’t have anything in there. We had to cut about 30 feet of concrete to tie into an existing floor drain. We had to build the restroom.”
However, being Strong’s third store, there weren’t many surprises.
“It took roughly two months for the general build out,” he said, “and another three months to hook up the electric and the propane, to pour the concrete for the pads, and to install the washers and dryers.”
Strong’s third – and largest coin laundry – opened last September. And, despite having two other competing stores in town, he has gotten the word out about his new business – through store signage, flyers and positive word of mouth.
“We’re also going to do some radio spots,” he added. “There is a local Hispanic radio station that covers all three of my areas, so we’re going to try that, too.”
Strong noted that he has tried to differentiate his unattended laundry from the competition with new high-speed equipment; ample laundry carts and folding tables; arcade games and vending machines; a couple of televisions; and a clean, brightly lit facility. He said he’s also considering adding a drop-off drycleaning service to the mix, or perhaps subletting a portion of his store to another complementary small business.
“As an owner, I do everything,” said Strong, who estimated that he spends about 10 hours per week in each of his three stores. “I handle all of the budgeting, the finances and the accounting. However, my main strength is the setup process, the installation and the maintenance, which keeps my costs down.
“I’m always looking for another location,” he continued. “I’d like to see this store get a year under its belt before I do anything else, but I would like four stores. After that, I think it might be tough to run it the way I’m doing it. But, I think I could personally be involved and hands-on with four laundries, and still not spend all my time working.
“And it is work. I see too many people who buy older laundromats and think they’re going to just collect quarters. It’s not that easy. You need to get your hands dirty. You need to spend some time there. You can’t go into a broken-down store and expect to make money. You need to offer the customer something. I’ve see too many times where people buy something, and six months later, they want to sell it. What did they do in those six months? Nothing. They kept it the same way. It’s still beat up, and the machines are still broken.
“This is not a business where you’re going to make money if you do nothing. You have to offer the customer a good product.”
#BusinessBio #StoreOperations #PlanetLaundry #Article #Public
